I am having a hard time defining my relationship and my feelings toward Obama and his administration. It’s almost like he’s the guy you’ve been dating for the last 20 years and you’ve been waiting patiently for him to propose. You know at this point that it might be worthless to leave but you just don’t know if you like him anymore plus there are no potential prospects on the horizon, so you stay. It’s practically an emotionally abusive relationship. He breaks his promises, we scream at each other, I get upset and leave, then he sweet talks me or I hear somebody talking badly about him and I come running back.

It all started in 2008 when I was an absolute and maniacal supporter of Obama. I thought to myself, “finally, someone who really gets it.” Here we had a presidential nominee who had a background in community organizing and who, I believed, understood the fundamental and basic principals of human and civil rights. To say I was excited is an understatement, I was ecstatic and I truly believed in the “change” that was coming. I rallied my family and the community to vote for him, I saw how excited my family was when I told them that this might be the closest we get to immigration reform, and I urged Latino voters to post signs that read “Vamos Obama!” on their windows and cars. Four years later, I feel used, abused and completely disheartened by the Obama administration and their failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The Latino community came out in unprecedented numbers to vote and they too believed in the change that he preached. Instead his administration has created policies like the Secure Communities Program or simply stood by the sidelines as friends and families were separated and deported. Que paso?

From 2008 to 2010, Obama assured the Latino community that his goal to overhaul the U.S. immigration policy would remain a top priority for him, despite Congressional failure to advance the DREAM Act or any other type of immigration reform. In December of this year, Congress failed to pass the DREAM Act and although I was deeply disappointed, I kept hope alive and believed that perhaps Obama had a secret weapon up his sleeve, and that he was waiting for the perfect moment to pass it. Again, it’s the 20-year boyfriend who still didn’t put a ring on it, even though it was your birthday and your dad held a shotgun to his head. You still keep hope alive.

Now, his administration is forcing states to adopt the Secure Communities (S-Comm) Program. S-Comm is a deportation program that was created in 2008 by the Bush administration, but expanded by the Obama administration this year. What started out as a voluntary program was not made mandatory by the Obama administration. Now each state must enforce the program. The effects of this program have been disastrous and detrimental to our communities. This program is misguided and unjust as thousands have been caught up and deported with no criminal backgrounds. Obama, my patience has run out and you failed the Latino community. Good luck securing our vote this year, because we might create our own “change.”

Joseph Hankin Community colleges have traditionally been at the forefront in supporting immigrant students’ access to higher education. In fact, one in four of today’s community college students are immigrants or children of immigrants, while on some campuses the ratio is much higher. […]

Now that the U.S. Supreme Courthas dealt with Arizona’s controversial immigration law, what will happen in states with similar laws? What will be the impact on produce operations that rely on migrant work crews? […]

A new report reinforces what experts have been saying from the beginning about the reasons the children have come the U.S. A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides more information about why Central American children arrived in the United States in such large numbers last year. According to the report; “El Salvador, Guatemala, an […]

This program has been hugely beneficial to Salvadorans and their families, as well as to the people who rely on them as employees. There is only a week left for Salvadorans with temporary protected status (TPS) to renew their work authorizations and legal status. Between 5,000 and 10,000 Long Islanders live with TPS, making this is a very important temporary […]

Jorge Montalvo (right), director of New York State Office for New Americans talked about how the state is moving forward on pro-immigrant legislation. Yesterday I was at the summit on immigration organized by Long Island Wins and Hofstra University’s Center for Civic Engagement. There was a lot of discussion and planning that took place there, but the bigges […]